April, 1908. 



^^ American ^^e^Journal 



cry. As regards the small clusters spok- 

 en of, we trust Mr. Petlit's e.Kpcriencc 

 will be in line with ours, as present con- 

 ditions seem to indicate that the bees 

 have been none the worse for smaller 

 populations than usual, of which, more 

 anon. 



Errata. 



On page 75, there is a little "mix-up" 

 in that comment about the keeping 

 qualities of honey-vingar. As it reads, 

 the statement referred too, makes it ap- 

 pear as though Mr. Dadant was the au- 

 thor of it, whereas C. W. Dayton, of 

 California, is the "writer" referred too. 

 Also, on page 75. 4th line from the top 

 of the 3rd column, read " eulogi^stic 

 terms" in place of "egotistic terms." 



over the matter, at present I frankly 

 admit that as things are just now, I do 

 not believe the bee - keeping fraternity 



are ready to give the united support so 

 necessary to insure the success of the 

 plan as outlined by Mr. 'Chrysler. 



Co-operation Among Bee-Keepers. 



At the last meeting of the Ontario 

 Bee-Keepers' Association considerable 

 discussion took place on the subject of 

 co-operation, and a committee was ap- 

 pointed to look into the matter and re- 

 port at next annual meeting. 



The "Farmer's Advocate"— one of the 

 leading agricultural papers of Canada 



has been inviting discussion along that 



line of thought, and in the March 5th 

 issue, Mr. Chrysler, of Chatham, an en- 

 thusiastic "co-operationer", replies to 

 some objections as seen by Mr. G. A. 

 Deadnan in a previous article. 



Mr. Chrvsler thinks the present sys- 

 tem is liked by the buyers, and "the more 

 names of producers they can obtain who 

 have honev for sale, and deal with them 

 in a private wav, the better they like it." 

 The plan as outlined by Mr. Chrysler 

 for the formation and working of a co- 

 operative society is as follows: 



"Form an association with sufficient 

 capital to establish suitable quarters for 

 storage, liquefying and putting honey m 

 suitable packages for the retail trade. 

 Make the shares of the company at $25 

 each, and no person to have the privilege 

 of owning more than 10 shares, or $250. 

 The company to have a president, vice- 

 president, and a sufficient number of di- 

 rectors; a manager, and one or more 

 salesmen, to be employed by the di- 

 rectors, and to be paid a certain per- 

 centage of the business done as a salary, 

 to be under bonds, and to be responsible 

 to the directors for all moneys and col- 

 lections connected with their duties. The 

 proceeds, after all expenses are paid, to 

 be divided among the members, accord- 

 ing to amount and grade of honey con- 

 tributed. To facilitate matters in rais- 

 ing the necessary capital, bee-keepers 

 may give their notes for the amount of 

 stock tliev wish to subscribe, and the 

 amount deducted from the net proceeds 

 of their honey. These notes the Asso- 

 ciation can use at the bank, which will 

 advance the necessary capital. More 

 than one place for so collecting the 

 honey may become necessary, as the 

 membership and conveniences demand. 

 It would become possible to pay in cash 

 a certain portion of the value of any 

 bee-keeper's honey, any time after de- 



livcrv." , . • , c 



Personally, I believe the principle ot 

 co-operation is sound and just, but not- 

 withstanding the fact that a few years 

 ago, the writer was quite enthusiastic 



Making of Honey-Vinegar 



BV C. r. DADANT. 



I have lately received two enquiries 

 concerning honey-vinegar, the first one 

 from a bee-keeper of New York State 

 who asks why his honey-water did not 

 turn to vinegar, the other from the editor 

 of the Bee-Keeper's Review, who asks 

 me what I know about the keeping 

 qualities of honey-vinegar. I must ac- 

 knowledge that this last question has 

 never been raised in mj- mind, and it 

 caused me to make investigations, of 

 which I will give the substance. 



First, about the making of honey- 

 vinegar. What is there to hinder honey- 

 water from changing to vinegar? 



I have stated several times in previous 

 articles that the change from saccharine 

 matter into acetic acid must necessarily 

 pass through the alcoholic form first. 

 But an alcoholic fermentation is not the 

 only fermentation that may take place 

 in honey-water or fruit-juices. A pu- 

 trid fermentation, may under certain cir- 

 cumstances, develop in honey-water as 

 well as in fruits, if the alcoholic fermen- 

 tation is delayed or prevented. Have 

 you ever heard it said, by some old farm- 

 er, that rotten apples made good cider? 

 There are indeed people who truly be- 

 lieve that such is the case. Yet, neither 

 rotten apples, decayed grapes, nor fetid 

 honey-water can even develop an al- 

 coholic fermentation. In the making of 

 high grades of wine in old Europe, the 

 damaged or decayed grapes are care- 

 fully removed. 



To make alcohol which will be later 

 changed to vinegar, it takes saccharine 

 matter. The scientists tell us that the 

 sugar of fruits is entirely destroyed by 

 putrid fermentation. We hardly need to 

 be told this, for every one knows who 

 has tasted spoiled fruit, Mhat instead of 

 a sweet flavor, nothing but bitterness re- 

 mains. Even although apples and grapes 

 contain the germs that cause alcoholic 

 fermentation, these fruits will only rot, 

 unless placed in conditions which help 

 develop the proper germs. A pile of ap- 

 ples under a tree will rot, the same num- 

 of fruits crushed and placed in a re- 

 ceptablc which will keep warmth and ex- 

 clude the air sufficiently will develop al- 

 coholic fermentation which will almost 

 immediately afterwards become acetic 

 if the air is not entirely excluded. 

 Honey-water, diluted so that the sweet 

 it contains is sufficient to preserve it, 

 and kept in a cool place, may develop a 

 certain amount of putrid fermentation. 

 We are told that all sorts of germs are 



brought into the hive with the honey 

 gathered in the flowers. So honey, un- 

 ripe or diluted, is subject to all sorts of 

 possibilities. That is why many people 

 heat it before trying to use it either for 

 mead or vinegar. This heating destroys 

 all germs of fermentation, and to secure 

 the alcoholic ferment, it is then necessary 

 to add some yeast. But it is also nec- 

 essary to keep the liquid at a temperature 

 sufficiently high to permit the develop- 

 ment of the germs of fermentation, and 

 not high enough to kill those germs. 



It is generally admitted that a heat of 

 70 to go degrees is necessary to keep up 

 fermentation, and that a heat of 130 

 and upwards will destroy the germs, al- 

 though some bacteria live at a much 

 higher temperature. 



When the alcoholic fermentation is 

 well under way, the acetic fermentation 

 may begin at any time, but it takes a 

 much greater quantity of air for the lat- 

 ter than for the former. The alcoholic 

 fermentation develops a large amount of 

 carbonic acid, which for the time being 

 will prevent all other fermentation. The 

 deadly gas escaping from a vat of fer- 

 menting grape -juice, which will ex- 

 tinguish a candle brought near the sur- 

 face — will exclude acetic fermentation 

 until this gas has escaped. But the vine- 

 yardist knows well that if he does not 

 exclude the air, there soon conies a 

 vinegar odor from his fermenting vats, 

 unless the amount of sugar is so great 

 that either it or the alcohol formed in 

 large amount will preclude the develop- 

 ment of the acetic germ. So the very 

 thing the wine-maker avoids is what the 

 vinegar-maker needs. While the orve 

 hastens to bung up his barrels, keeping 

 them well filled with as little air space 

 as possible, the vinegar-maker devises 

 the most feasible ways to expose the fer- 

 mented liquid to the oxydizing action of 

 the air. 



Four things are therefore necessary 

 in making vinegar : 



T. A sufficient quantity of honey to 

 permit of alcoholic fermentation. Thi3 

 fermentation is usually speedy, requir- 

 ing but a very few days. 



2. A sufficient amount of water. If 

 there is too much saccharine matter, 

 there will be but a very slow fermenta- 

 tion. From one to one and a half pounds 

 of honey to the gallon is the most ap- 

 proved quantity. 



3. A favorable temperature, from 70 

 to 90 degrees, Fahrenheit. The lower 

 temperature gives a slow change, the 

 higher a speedy one. 



4. Air and ferment. The quantity of 

 air needed for the first or alcoholic fer- 



